


Lonely Gods

by MatildaSwan



Series: The Gift of Time [1]
Category: Doctor Who (2005), Sanctuary (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Community: sanctuary_bingo, Crossover, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-11-21
Updated: 2011-11-21
Packaged: 2017-10-26 09:13:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,707
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/281306
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MatildaSwan/pseuds/MatildaSwan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p><i>They were myths and legends; whispers on the breeze and stories capture in the sands of time.</i></p><p>Spoilers for Tempus (Sanctuary) and The Wedding of River Song, Let’s Kill Hitler and vague s6 references and Journey’s End (Doctor Who).</p>
            </blockquote>





	Lonely Gods

They were myths and legends; whispers on the breeze and stories captured in the sands of time.

The Doctor had been a traveller; he had spent his existence running through space and disrupting lives. River had been an archaeologist; she had spent her time digging through the past to recreate life. Helen had been a doctor; she had used her life to save others.

Now they were shadows; lonely then and lonelier now. They lived in secret, away from the prying eyes of the universe. They didn’t exist, outside of history books; their lives were the product of self sacrifice.

The Doctor was the protector of the universe and he had sacrificed his life for it. River was trained to kill and she had sacrificed her lives to save him. Helen was a voice of reason in the world and she had sacrificed her life to maintain it.

They were each other’s rewards.

*

Helen ran from England, knowing she couldn’t stay: too much temptation, too much knowledge. She moved, not with the times but opposite them; she pushed against the forces around her because it made her feel _alive_. Her rage burnt away the numbness and her indignation kept her stubborn.

She never made a home, never stayed anywhere for long enough. She couldn’t drop off the face of the earth as planned; it was impossible to stay outside of events, impossible to go through life undetected. James did his fair share of covering for her without letting _his_ Helen get wind; for that she was extremely grateful.

So she travelled; country to country, continent to continent. Barely stopping for fear that someone would recognise her or she’d get caught up in something beyond her control. She wasn’t on vacation, she was running. She lost track of time until days melting into weeks and Sundays became a vague memory; for years, maybe even decades. Until she paused one day; she stopped on a beach in Norway. She didn’t know why, it was just another meaningless place; Dårlig Ulv Stranden. Bad Wolf Bay; it meant nothing to her.

She stopped and listened. For the first time, she actually _heard_ the sound that had been following her. It was a sort of whooping noise, mechanical but somehow alive. She thought it had been a figment of her subconscious; filtering into her waking moments after it had appeared in her dreams. She turned toward the sound, prepared to find nothing there.

*

River Song did not run, from anything. She moved as she saw fit and however she pleased. Locks meant nothing to her; imprisonment was a laughing matter. Time was a sister; always reaching out a helping hand and Space an older brother; constantly watching her back. She lived in a gaol but she was by no means locked inside; she was there by choice, hiding away in silence.

The universe had a memory more extravagant than an elephant’s; forgetting someone like River Song was not an option. A third of the universe knew her as the one who murdered the Doctor, another knew her as the Doctor’s wife and the rest didn’t know her name at all. To those worlds, she was the stuff of fables; the wicked witch and the fairy godmother, one and the same.

She was the Child of the Tardis; an impossible woman, an improbable event with just a hint of wonder. She wore the physics of reality like a pair of gloves; comfortable when it suited her but easily discarded.

Her nights where his and his alone and she would _never_ take back the decisions that led her here. So she lay in wait, knowing one day their timelines would sync again and she would be free to travel with him. Until then she made a home of the Stormcage, far away form the prying eyes and ears of the rest of reality to be forgotten, listening for the sound of her love and a blue wooden box.

*

The Doctor stopped running, because that was what he normally did. He stopped running, and tried walking, and crawling, and hopping even; he tried to do anything _The Doctor_ wouldn’t do. He _tried_ to stay off the radar, _tried_ to be quiet, _tried_ not to draw attention to himself; he’d even started landing on Sundays.

He knew there were whispers about him, murmurs that the Doctor hadn’t died. He wasn’t sure who to blame for that; or who to thank for the cover ups that must have been going around. He had a feeling the Old Girl had something to do with that, but she wouldn’t tell him; kept saying _spoilers_ whenever he asked. His plan hadn’t worked as well as he had hoped. Dropping of the face of the universe was easier said than done; it kept score and never forgot a debt. But he tried to keep the noise to a minimum.

Now that it was just him and Sexy; he was back to being a mad man in a little blue box. A _quiet_ mad man, during the day anyway; when he was out and about, secretly roaming the galaxy. He wasn’t particularly good at pretending he wasn’t alive, trouble and attention seemed to be attracted to him; but he attempted to travel unseen and unheard.

In the Stormcage, on the other hand; quiet wasn’t normally on the agenda. He had promised; her nights with him. For her, the Doctor broke his first rule. In the Stormcage it was him and River Song, and The Old Girl humming _spoilers_ in the background.

*

Out of all the planets in the universe and times in existence, he always ended up where River was waiting for him. The Doctor suspected it was all Sexy’s doing, but sometimes he liked to think he was just lucky. Not that he was complaining either way; it kept him on his toes. So he wasn’t surprised when he stepped out into the sun of Cadeleria V and saw her hair shine.

She was waiting for him, two steps ahead as always. She’d gotten bored of her cell, broken out for the afternoon and fancied a picnic. So she packed enough for two and found a lovely patch of grass and gotten comfortable. She heard his terrible parking skills and grimaced; she was _definitely_ not letting him drive.

“Hello, River,” she heard his swagger.

“Hello, sweetie; right on time,” he melted at her smile.

He sat, they ate and drank and mentally frolicked in the sunbeams till dusk came and the moon rose high over head.

Then they went exploring.

*

River demanded they visit a few archaeological sites that she simply _had_ to explore, and Sexy was more than happy to conspire with her when the Doctor was driving. They saw tombs being built, monuments in construction and got sand in places where sand should _never_ go. On one planet, they even managed to stop a sleeper cell of Horatisan Joobs from infuriating the government; with no blood shed, as the Doctor proudly pointed out. The Doctor chose a few destinations here and there; a star shower on Metebelis II, a Zoo on New New Earth and the trek through the jungles of Planet Bedham being chased by rabid hippalodadon.

Once they were safely back in the Tardis, River and the Doctor both agreed it was time she went back to the Stormcage. There had _almost_ been enough excitement for one ‘afternoon’, so they said just one more trip. The Doctor danced around the console, punching in random coordinates. River shook her head and smirked while Sexy hummed her laughter.

*

They stepped out of the Tardis and stopped. Just stopped. River _felt_ the strangeness of this dank little beach; there was something about this place that hummed _at_ her. The Doctor flashed back to the time of storms and blood and betrayal; his heart lurched and he reached out to grip River’s hand. She turned and caught a glimpse of his eyes and it shook her to the core; she held him silently, lost for words, not needing to say anything even if she could. They parted without a sound and turned.

They caught a glimpse of the figure at the same time, distant enough to have missed before. The Tardis slammed her doors behind them and making it obvious she was the reason they were here. Walking towards them, close enough to see now, it was a female with purpose in her stride, her dark hair flying in the wind.

She was beautiful, certainly, but a beauty that had been marred. Pain, loss, time were all etched in the lines on her face and in the dullness of her eyes. _Her eyes,_ River noticed. _They’re just like the Doctor’s. So old; pain and suffering and knowledge, trapped inside the illusion of youth._

They could both smell time on her as she stood before them. _Tortured time; torn, broken, ripped_ , thought the Doctor. _What is she doing here?_ They stared, tense and awkward, until she broke the silence.

“Helen Magnus,” sharp and harsh.

River blinked, she knew the name as a myth; the woman Death forgot. People spoke of her like they did the Face of Boe, so old her origins had been forgotten. The Doctor knew her as a whisper; a force to reckoned with and best left alone. Helen didn’t know either of them by name.

“Who are you?” the same tone, forced and pained.

“I’m the Doctor and this is River Song,” the words ran together, breath was irrelevant. “And this gorgeous creature behind me is the Tardis, and I think she’d very much like to meet you,” the Doctor added as the Old Girl opened her doors and shone. They were there for a reason. Three lonely Gods and the Gift of Time, on a beach that had seen so many lives changed and altered and ripped apart. Just this once, this beach was paying back its debt.

Helen softened; curiosity overriding fear and mistrust. She nodded, and followed the two inside the Tardis, mouth agape, wonder igniting the long lost sparkle in her eye. Sexy hummed; brushing against all three of their minds, welcoming the newest among them.

They were each other’s reward; next stop, everywhere.


End file.
